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JEDPL Reviews: Accel World
Di Di Di Digimon Digimon Di Di Di Digimon Digimon Di Di Di Digimon Digital Monsters Digimon are the Champions Digimon Digital Monsters Digimon are the Champions Change (Action) into Digital Champions to save the Digital Wo--- Hold on, hold on, hold on!! I'm sorry, ladies and gentlemen... Apparently someone out there just so happened to poke their noses in another person's business. Again. Whoever that "person" is must've been the one held responsible for taking my scandalous catchphrase not too long ago, but luckily, I got it back before the other week, so no real biggie. Hakuna matata, insipid motherf***ers. It means "no worries" for the rest of your days. Alrighty, I suppose that's enough padding as it is... So, harro, beautiful people of the Animapredictview Wiki! I am your host--- whoops, I'm your profound leader and Extreme Conqueror, Ouroburos. As I've already said before, I'm terribly sorry about the beginning of this JEDPL Review. You have to remember that the kid in me loves Digimon and anything related to that franchise... but the grownup in me likes seinen manga! {laughs} Goddamnit, Family Guy ''references again? Today on this Fellatiotas--- aw, Hell, today's a Fanciful Friday, let's just leave it at that! While I'm most certainly NOT reviewing a season of ''Digimon ''(matter of fact, does anyone remember me saying that I'd stray from the path of the Mon series?), I'll definitely review an anime that could be referred to as "digital". Whether that's an air of arrogance is all too subjective; it's like calling Jhonen Vasquez a Goth king. {clears throat} With a total of 24 episodes, a light novel opposite of ''Sword Art Online, and a needlessly cartoonish fatass for a main protagonist, this is Sunrise's Accel World. Nerdy-as-shit fans of Custom Robo and the Virtual Boy ({cricket noises}), this is all for you! The review Instead of sharing a bunch of historic facts, which is what I did during past JEDPL Reviews, I'm going... to just be as direct as I can and move on to the plot in a nutshell. {audience jeering} Oh, for the love of Vishnu, as much as I enjoy discussing fangasmic chronicles (which I honestly am getting sick of), it's only for the best that I diminish the action of taking up one's valuable time... if that even exists. After all, just be glad that I'm not pulling a Nelsonma and disregarding any instances of grammar and punctuation. No offense, buddy-boy. {sigh} Okay, now that that has been improperly settled... So what exactly is the plot of this anime, Accel World, even about? That's where Haruyuki Arita, nicknamed "Haru", enters from stage left. He's a petite, obese Junior High School student that's been constantly getting tormented since Day One; all of this results in achieving exceptionally low self-esteem, but is anybody surprised at this point? I bet crap such as this happened to a lot of fellas, and Haru here might as well be relatable in that department. Our main character always logs onto the school's Local Network and lashes all this frustration out on squash (I have no idea what the f*** game this actually is, but it could just be Japan's answer to tennis), in which he gets the highest of scores. {sarcastic} Wow, what a powerful story we have to comprehend, folks! AW ''must be another whole term for "Prince of Tennis Figures Out What Google+ Is"---- {back to normal} Nah, nah, I'm just screwing around as usual! One day, Haru oh-so-diligently checks the squash rankings and realizes that his high score has finally been surpassed. By whom? A popular and attractive Student Council Vice-President, Kuroyukihime (who may or may not be a Mary Sue... ask TV Tropes), that's who the crap shattered our hero's dreams of being the ultimate master of squash. After having a moderate amount of time meeting, Kuroyukihime introduces Haru to an unknown program that somehow has the ability to stop the flow of time, but that's not all! Brain Burst is officially a Virtual Reality Massively Multiplayer Online (VRMMO) fighting game (YEEEEEEAAAA!!!!!), which is where people duke it out in order to rightfully gain Burst Points, ''Accel World's equivalent of'' DBZ: Budokai's Zeni... kinda sorta. ''Accel World ''is either formulaic or intriguing, depending on who you're gonna be asking. On one hand, in my opinion, the fact that the series as a whole is one big fighting game in the VR is great and certainly what I've been looking far all this time. But on the other end of the spectrum, have fun trying to deal with that conspicuous CG and the blatantly clichéd characters, not that they're horrible. This isn't helped by the unhealthy amalgamation of action-laden episodes and just not enough breathers. If you're calling me out as a hypocrite or whatever, kindly stop reading this review and browse for a more insightful review done by some geek-esque virtuoso who sits home with his hot mom... I'm doing the best I can here. All this talk about the clichéness in the characters reminds me... I gotta f***ing discuss the characters themselves. Haruyuki's a small fatass who is one part Simon, another part Shinji Ikari if he were super-deformed. What makes me detest him at first ISN'T because he's big-boned, oh no no... it's 'cause he has no spine. Haru is arguably an example of a classical anti-hero until he joined the Nega Nebulus, where he became a badass from henceforth. One word: wings. There's also an ensemble darkhorse in the form of Ash Roller, a large ham on a motorbike who is everyone's favorite character... myself included. Did I mention a small, hot-blooded redhead with a Duel Avatar that can utilize a huge fortress? Phew! And it doesn't even end there, ladies and gents... The animation that ''AW ''displays, in spite of being decent enough when we're not looking at Brain Burst, is alright on its own. As usual, Sunrise gives things a noticeable bump in quality once any actual action or drama is showcased; this is particularly evident during any duels, such as the battle of Silver Crow (Haru), Cyan Pile (Taku), Lime Bell (Chiyu) against Dusk Taker (Nōmi). A damn shame that the art style by itself could've been better, though, as the character designs are standard and have been seen A LOT. Haruyuki is the black sheep of the group due to not only being plump, but also ridiculously one-dimensional (not personality-wise, I'm talking about his design). The Duel Avatars are better on the eyes, especially the central Pollyanna of the cast, Chiyu as Lime Bell; Ash Roller and Sulfur Pot are also honorable mentions. Audio ends up faring on a similar level. I didn't find the background music memorable or something I would listen to while working, but the opening and ending themes are quite enjoyable: on their own, and in the context of ''Accel World. What really caught my hearing was the overall strong voice cast, notably newcomer Erik Kimerer as Haruyuki, who managed to make him sound downright emotional and also rather interesting; he's even better in the last batch of episodes. Meanwhile, Kira Buckland supplies Kuroyukihime/Black Lotus' voice with an air of elegance, all while properly getting her moments of flusterment down flat. If I had to criticize in this area, then that criticism would be aimed at Stephanie Sheh as Chiyuri Kurashima and Amanda C. Miller as Seiji Nōmi. For the former, I could be transforming into a bias steamroller on that one, since I'm more comfortable with Sheh's "Shrinking Violet" roles. As for the latter, Miller appropriately gives Nōmi a villainous tone, but occasionally can come across as more contrived than threatening. I dunno! Final verdict In conclusion, ''Accel World ''is a very good anime in case if you're fed up of watching endless repeats of anything that has gratuitous romance and silliness in it. Regardless of the generic character models (save for Haru!) outside of virtual reality, obnoxious ounces of CG, and unbalanced episode content, much of the saving graces such as the voice acting, extraordinary animation, and (to some) the compelling storyline will allow anybody to overlook those small nitpicks. Did I forget to mention the fighting!? OH MY GOD, THE F***ING DRAGON-CRUSHING FIGHTING!!!!! It's the reason I checked this baby out to start off with! With that said, I am Ouroburos the Extreme Conqueror, have a wonderful weekend, and don't be a nobody! "Screw the rules, I have green hair!" 22:58, November 8, 2013 (UTC) Ouroburos the Extreme Conqueror Category:Review